We love console games.

There's something about a big HD TV and digital surround sound that fills up a living room. Shooters, platformers, sports games, arcade classics and experimental indie games just feel bigger on a TV screen. It's how most of us grew up gaming.

But maybe people are missing out.

We get it – smartphones and tablets are getting all the new titles – they're "what's hot.” The console market is pushing developers away. We’ve seen a brain drain: some of the best, most creative gamemakers are focused on mobile and social games because those platforms are more developer-friendly. And the ones who remain focused on console games can’t be as creative as they’d like.

Deep down, you know your best gaming memories happened in the living room.

You busted your ass just to find out the princess was "in another castle." You fought bosses that told you repeatedly how much "you suck." You taped a blanket to half of your screen so your friend couldn't see where you were. You traded the best players onto your team just so you could have the perfect season. And you did it all on the TV.

It's time to upend console gaming.

Let’s open this sucker up! It's time we brought back innovation, experimentation, and creativity to the big screen. Let’s make the games less expensive to make, and less expensive to buy. With all our technological advancements, shouldn't costs be going down? Gaming could be cheaper!

We're handing the reins over to the developer with only one condition: at least some gameplay has to be free. We borrowed the free-to-play model from games like League of Legends, Team Fortress 2, Triple Town, and many others. Developers can offer a free demo with a full-game upgrade, in-game items or powers, or ask you to subscribe.

OUYA: The revolution will be televised

OUYA is a new game console for the TV, powered by Android.

We've packed this little box full of power. Developers will have access to OUYA's open design so they can produce their games for the living room, taking advantage of everything the TV has to offer.

Best of all, OUYA's world-class controller, console, and interface come in one beautiful, inexpensive package. All the games on it will be free, at least to try.

Great games come from great developers.

Developers can wave farewell to the roadblocks of bringing a console game to market. Anyone can make a game: every OUYA console is a dev kit. No need to purchase a license or an expensive SDK. It's built on Android, so developers already know how it works.

That doesn't mean OUYA is an Android port. You can create the next big title in your bedroom – just like the good old days! Who needs pants!?

"This has the potential to be the game developer’s console. It's about time!" -- Brian Fargo (founder of inXile)

“Who wouldn't want a beautiful piece of industrial design that sells for $99, plugs straight into your TV, and gives you access to a huge library of games?" – Jordan Mechner (creator of Prince of Persia, Karateka)

“If OUYA delivers on the promise of being the first true open gaming platform that gives indie developers access to the living room gaming market, yes that is a great idea. We will follow the development of OUYA and see how it resonates with gamers. I could see all current Mojang games go on the platform if there's a demand for it.” – Mojang (developer of Minecraft)

"I'm excited for OUYA! I am a firm believer that there is always room to challenge the status quo." -- Jenova Chen (thatgamecompany, creator of flOw, Cloud, and Flower)

"Our games will work so well on a TV, we just need an easy way to get them there. OUYA could be it." -- Marek Rabas (Madfinger Games)

"An open game console that gives independent game developers the flexibility to experiment with their games and business models on the TV, is something that's long overdue." – David Edery (Spry Fox, creator of Triple Town)

Design matters.

We believe a great console requires a great user experience. We are working with the award-winning designer, Yves Behar, and his firm fuseproject (designer of the Jambox).

We are designing the controller to be a love letter to console gaming. It will have everything you've learned to love: fast buttons, triggers, laser-precise analog sticks, a D-Pad – and it will have a touchpad for any games making the trek from mobile or tablet to the TV. It'll be just the right weight. We are working with select developers to play-test the controller through development. We call it 'the Stradivarius of controllers,' and we hope developers will be inspired to take gameplay to a new level with it.

It's entertainment beyond gaming.

Because OUYA is based on Android, any app developer could publish their Android app to OUYA. The possibilities are limitless, and conversations with potential partners are already underway. Here’s our first: do you like watching StarCraft, or League of Legends? Watch Twitch.TV on your OUYA.

We've come a long way already. The user interface and industrial designs are far along. Our prototype is up and running. What we have left to do is simple, but it's expensive. (We’re looking at you Mark Cuban! Woz! Help us out.)

All we need is you.

With your help, we need to:

Convert our prototype to production-ready models and get all the regulatory approvals (yeah, we need these to sell them)

Deliver developer kits (for early developers so we can have games on day one, though every console will include an SDK once we launch)

Place our first production orders (we are working with a manufacturing firm with lots of game hardware experience, but we need to know how many to make!)

Ideally, fund some initial game development (i.e., 1st-party games)

And if you’re international, we want your help too…gaming is global, and we will get you OUYA. We still have a lot to figure out in regards to rights and countries, but it can be done. Look what we've accomplished already!

Show the world, through your numbers, that you're out there.

Show them you're ready to level the playing field. Enlist others. The more we raise, the more we can do.

We want you to pay only for the games you love. A “free to play” model works when everyone (gamers and game makers) benefits from directly rewarding amazing games.

For gamers, every game will be free to play: what this means is that there will at least be a free demo, or you’ll be able to play the entirety of the game for free but may have access to additional items, upgrades, or other features that come at a cost.

For developers, free to play means that they can set their own prices. Developers know best: There is no better way to sell a game than to have folks that have actually touched the game share glowing reviews with their friends. By allowing some form of free play, we’ll help them do just that. The only reason you used to pay for games before playing them is that you couldn’t try them at the store before you brought them home – it’s a relic of an old way of doing business, and one of the many things about the games business we plan to change.

It’s a little early to share a final roster. We’ll do that when we get closer to launch next year.

OUYA will offer the best games possible—and a wide range of them—including new games developed specifically to take advantage of the OUYA console. As you can see in this Kickstarter, we’re already taking to some of the best-known game developers, and beloved indie game makers. We trust them to deliver the goods!

OUYA was not created merely to host ports of existing Android games. We’ve built this badboy to play the most creative content from today’s best known AAA game designers as well as adored indie gamemakers.

That said, we believe many existing Android games will feel bigger and better on a TV with a real controller. And we’ve heard from developers like Brian Fargo and Adam Saltsman that the controller will be the most exciting reason to develop for OUYA. We hope they speak for all developers when they say OUYA will inspire new forms of gameplay.

Mojang has committed that Minecraft (and their other games) will be on OUYA -- but only if we prove that we can make a great product (that’s our job) AND enough people want their games (that’s your job). Show them with your numbers that you want Minecraft on OUYA!

Drop us a line! We'd love to hear from you and hear what you expect out of this platform.

Our business model is simple. It's identical to the mobile game model – nothing fancy or sneaky. We'll share revenue – you get 70 percent. We’re planning to make it as easy as possible for you. And OUYA is built on Android. It will also support most of the popular engines. Already Unity is a launch partner.

We’d be pumped to have you on board. We’re already talking to folks like InXile, Owlchemy Labs, Semi Secret, Storm8, Spry Fox, Madfinger Games, Trendy Entertainment, Happion Labs, Mojang, Jordan Mechner, and thatgamecompany. Let us know if you support us, and we’ll add you to our list…

We would love to have you join the conversation, and make games on OUYA.

We can support any apps built for Android. We'll be launching with Twitch.TV and can't wait for more partners. If you have an Android app you'd like to see on OUYA, let us know at http://mailto:devs@ouya.tv.

When we say, “open” we mean it. We’ve made many decisions based on this philosophy:

Launching on Kickstarter – this isn't just a way to raise funds. It's our way of involving supporters from the get go. We want your feedback as well as your support.

For gamers, we believe that OUYA will be more open than any platform on the market to a broad range of content that is really new and interesting, from the best known names in games to exciting indies that you may be getting to know for the first time.

For developers, open means that any developer can publish a game – if you've got a game, you can put it on OUYA. You can price your game however you like – it's your game! We just want to help you bring it to life on the TV. Just make some part of the experience free to the OUYAs. We use open-source software and standard chipsets – we're on Android because developers are speaking the language. Our chipsets aren't proprietary or secretive – open OUYA up and have a look! We’ll even publish the hardware design if people want it.

For hackers: root it. Go ahead. Your warranty is safe. Even the hardware is hackable. Want to get inside? You’ll need a standard screwdriver and nothing more. Go to town. We have standard USB ports and Bluetooth, so you’ll even be able to create your own peripherals.

As with every platform, though, we have to balance openness with a quality user experience. So we'll have a standard user interface. We'll curate your games in our storefront so they're easy for everyone to get to. And we’ll require that all games we put in our store include a free experience. If you don’t like our choices, root the device and make it your own.

Yes. Hola. Gaming is global. We wish we didn't have to charge people extra shipping to send OUYA overseas, but until someone invents teleportation, we'll have to use the tried-and-true method.

OUYA will support multiple voltages (Input Voltage Range: 110 V AC to 220 V AC), with your own adaptor. We're looking into supporting other languages, too – if you show us you want it! We're launching in English for now, though.

Lastly, some developers might choose to only publish in some countries, but that's their choice – not ours.

Very. We expect to have a finished product ready to ship to you in March. (With the very first boxes – bugs and all – ready a few months earlier.)

We have a functional prototype, and we have almost completed our industrial design (the shape and materials of the product you see here). We know the hardware specifications, and are working with electrical and mechanical engineers to test the performance of the hardware. We have begun work on the user interface and software. We’ll pull all these pieces together and test how they fit, while we finalize the product.

Rewards

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Pledge $10 or more

1,770 backers

Join our wild ride. RESERVE YOUR USERNAME before the launch rush. Every little bit brings us one step closer to a new kind of console. The more we raise, the more we can accomplish. You'll get updates as we go on our journey.

Estimated delivery:Sep 2012

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Pledge $95 or more

1,000 backers
All gone!

GET AN OUYA: console and controller. Plus the rewards above. This is for early birds -- we can only offer a limited number at this price. (We have to ask you to add $20 for shipping outside the U.S.) Please add $30 if you want a second controller.

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

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Pledge $99 or more

46,124 backers
Limited (33876 left of 80000)

GET AN OUYA: console and controller. Guarantee we will have one available for you, before it gets to stores. Plus the rewards above. We're figuring out how many we can make! (We have to ask you to add $20 for shipping outside the U.S.) Please add $30 if you want a second controller.

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

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Pledge $140 or more

7,755 backers

Limited Edition Backer Exclusive -- Only available for our LAST week of Kickstarter. Let everyone know you are an early backer of OUYA. Get our exclusive, limited edition rich BROWN BRUSHED METAL FINISH OUYA. It’s a work of art! You’ll also get the earlier rewards. (We have to ask you to add $20 for shipping outside the U.S.) Please add $30 if you want a second controller.

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

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Pledge $225 or more

2,500 backers
All gone!

Kickstarter exclusive. Reserve an OUYA plus two controllers -- each with your username ETCHED into it, so they're uniquely yours. (Same shipping costs, and you also get to reserve your username and get a founder emblem.)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

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Pledge $699 or more

600 backers
All gone!

Developer Special. A first-run OUYA (already rooted so you can just get going), EARLY SDK ACCESS, an extra controller, and we'll help you get started. We'll also help you promote your game for ONE YEAR, and your games will be marked with a FOUNDER EMBLEM.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

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Pledge $1,337 or more

226 backers
Limited (174 left of 400)

Elite Developer Special. You receive the Developer Special plus the email equivalent of a hotline into OUYA—a closely guarded email address that gives you direct access to our team and priority handling. But wait, there’s more: YOU AND A FRIEND ARE INVITED TO THE OUYA LAUNCH PARTY in Los Angeles. Warm up those biceps because you’ll be lifting a serious gift bag packed with goodies we’re keeping secret until the party.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2012

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4 backers
Limited (26 left of 30)

For the designer's designer. WE’LL PUT YOU UP IN SAN FRANCISCO FOR A DAY WITH YVES BEHAR. Hang with Yves and his team at fuseproject, discuss the creation and development of OUYA (of course we'll give you one when they're ready), and spend time within a community of extraordinary product designers.

Estimated delivery:Jan 2013

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Pledge $10,000

12 backers
Limited (8 left of 20)

The Angel List. The entire first production run of consoles will have YOUR USERNAME and BACKER NUMBER ENGRAVED INTO IT (and of course you'll get one). We’ll invite you and a friend to a private dinner before our launch party with our inner circle of game developers and designers. And, of course, we’ll love you forever.